


"I Have An Idea"

by victoriannightwriter



Series: Miraculous One-Shots [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, One Shot, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:00:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22482190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/victoriannightwriter/pseuds/victoriannightwriter
Summary: A Marcaniel/Math oneshot about art and hidden feelings*slightly edited as of 7/6/20*
Relationships: Marc Anciel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Series: Miraculous One-Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821121
Comments: 2
Kudos: 102





	"I Have An Idea"

“I have an idea.”

Nathaniel Kurtzberg glanced up, meeting the eyes of his friend and partner, Marc Anciel. Eyeliner-rimmed eyes lit up, Marc's lips parted in a soft smile, shimmering white lip gloss glowing in the weak light of Nathaniel’s room. He tugged on one of the white tassels on his red jacket.

“What is it?” Nathaniel asked, turning his head slightly as to not become distracted from what Marc had to say. And then a pang of guilt washed over him when he realized what he’d done. Marc was so pure, so sweet, and here Nathaniel acted like he was a force of attention. That is, attention he’d never want. Marc didn’t like to be noticed, he liked to  _ notice _ .

Marc shrugged. “I mean, i-it’s probably stupid.”

“It won’t be. Promise.”

“Well, one of us—I mean, one of our characters—could, uh, get reakumatized.” His deep green eyes met Nathaniel’s aquamarine ones. “Just temporarily, of course.”

“Oh! I could see that happening. One of them becomes upset about something—”

Marc grinned. “Right! So, should it be Reverser or Mightillustrator?”

“Tough one.” Nathaniel thought for a moment. It was, however, near impossible to think when Marc was staring at him, awaiting his judgement. Okay, Marc wasn’t staring, just watching, but it sure felt like Marc’s eyes were glued to Nathaniel’s every movement. Or maybe Nathaniel was just paranoid. “Well, whichever one it is would probably attack the other, along with Ladybug and Chat Noir, right?”

“Mmhm.” Marc picked at one of his nails, scraping off a layer of nail polish. “There is also the question of how they get akumatized, and how they react when they’re back to being a hero. I wouldn’t mind if it’s Reverser again, if you want.”

“Reverser? But—that  _ just _ happened to you.”  _ And it was Nathaniel’s fault. _

“I know.”

“I caused you to nearly kill Ladybug and Chat Noir and almost bury Paris in trash. Are you sure you want to relive that? It might be better if it was me; it’s been so long since my akumatiation, and I didn’t—”

“Nath, don’t do that.”

Nathaniel met his eyes again. “Do what?”

“Don’t act like you didn’t apologize.” 

“I should’ve apologized more. It was my fault, and I’m honestly shocked that you don’t hate me after what I did.” Nathaniel sighed. “If our roles were reversed and you ripped up my sketchbook—”

“Ladybug fixed my journal, Nath.”

Nathaniel leaned back against the chair, unable to even look at Marc due to his host of conflicting feelings. Guilt, shame, and some sort of attraction commingled into a mess of emotion that Nathaniel didn’t even want to begin sorting out. Why did Marc have to call him “Nath”? It was one thing when Marinette did it, but when it was Marc . . .

And of course Marc didn’t even realize the effect he had on Nathaniel’s mind. That perfectly innocent boy would just sit there, a hint of a smile appearing gently on his lips. 

“That doesn’t mean I didn’t do it. After you spent weeks writing stories to accompany my artwork, stories that included my unrealistic celebrity crush. And because I was dumb enough to think it was realistic for a while, I hurt you.”

Marc dropped his happy expression, fading into something a lot more ashamed. He fiddled with one of his gloves. “Nathaniel, I didn’t ever tell you why I wrote those stories.” He spoke this in a sort of choking, tight voice.

“You said that you liked my art, so you wanted to write about it.”

“No.” Marc bit his lip. “I mean, I did like your art, and I wanted to add what I could, even if my writing is awful in comparison. But that’s not really why. I projected my own feelings onto Ladybug in the story. I remember when I first saw the news broadcast about the Evillustrator. Nadja Chamack was explaining what she knew, and they put up a picture of you akumatized, and I . . . I thought you were really attractive. But I didn’t say anything about it. Then I was browsing the school website and saw that a lot of the pictures were done by someone named ‘Nathaniel Kurtzburg’. I recognized the name, and I recognized you. And the feelings I shoved deep down came back.” Marc took a deep breath, staring down at his feet. “Nathaniel, I t-think . . . I think I have a crush on you.”

Nathanal didn’t respond at first, just met Marc’s gaze. It was as if the information was still loading, like it wasn’t a comprehensible thought yet. Much like Nathaniel’s own feelings.

“Nath, please don’t look at me differently; I promise I won’t say or do anything more about it. I just thought you should know. I’d hate myself if I never said anything.” Marc’s expression twisted into one of pain, a pain that needed to be felt to be fully understood. “I’m sorry. I made things weird between us. Even if it wasn’t, why would you ever like  _ me _ ? I’m awful and boring and tried to reverse you into doing what I wanted. No, I’m not what you’d want. I think I’ll just go now.”

Without thinking, Nathaniel grabbed his arm. “Marc, wait!”

Marc turned, a couple tears glistening in his eyes. 

“Don’t say those things about yourself; you’re not awful and boring. You’re sweet and forgiving and talented. And really pretty. Anyone with a brain would be honored to be with someone like you.”

Shock struck Marc’s face, as if he couldn’t believe the things he was hearing. Granted, he probably couldn’t. Just like how Nathaniel couldn’t believe the things he was saying. 

“Besides,” Nathaniel continued. “I think I like you too.”

The feelings that had been blocked off burst free. All the guilt Nathaniel had harbored, all the attraction and love, all the fear and premature hurt that had built up at the notion of a rejection from Marc, it all flowed freely. In the heat of the moment, Nathaniel placed his hand over Marc’s, drawing a soft shudder from the other.

“Are you okay?” Nathaniel asked. Maybe that was too much . . .

“Yes!” Marc looked up, eyes wide and alight. “Never better, trust me! Oh my gosh, Nath, I’m so glad you feel the way I do, because I was going to go insane if I couldn’t say anything, but I didn’t want you to hate me forever. And, uh . . .” He blushed. “You’re really pretty too.”

“Oh, so not just as the Evillustrator?” Nathaniel teased.

In response, Marc shyly reached up and pulled Nathaniel’s bangs back, exposing the other side of his face. “Can—can I do something real quick?” At Nathaniel’s slightly blushing nod, Marc took a rainbow hair clip from his pocket and clipped Nathaniel’s hair back. “I-I’m sorry, I just really wanted to see your other eye. Sorry.”

Nathaniel examined his hair in the mirror. He wasn’t used to seeing his whole face, especially not when someone else was around. It was way too easy to just hide behind his hair. But now, now that feelings were being broadcast out in the open . . . now was the time for trying new things. “Can I borrow your lip gloss, Marc?”

Marc quickly turned to his shoulder bag and fumbled with the clasp, but before he could get the small tube out, he turned back to Nathaniel. “I’ll do you one better,” he told him shyly, “if you don’t mind if, uh . . . if I kiss you.”

“Wow, Marc, that was pretty smooth.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? Of course I don’t mind if you kiss me.”

Marc laughed, blushing, and moved slightly closer to Nathaniel. He took his face in his hands and leaned in. As soon as their lips touched, it was as if the dam that had been previously holding Nathaniel’s feelings exploded into a thousand particles. Marc was here, he liked him, he wanted him to stay. His lip gloss tasted like vanilla and cinnamon and comfort.

They pulled away, Marc breathing so hard he was nearly crying. “I’m sorry, I must be so bad at kissing, and you probably didn’t even want to do that yet. I mean, we just told each other our feelings, and—”

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”

Marc’s lips formed a smile again, but not the innocent, unaware one of before, but a stupid, silly smile that someone makes when they’re utterly embarrassed but happy at the same time. A couple of happy tears leaked down his face. “Y-yeah, me too. But we have to work on the comic book.”

“Of course. So, should it be Reverser or Mightillustrator that’s re-akumatized?”

“I have an idea.”

“And I’d love to hear it.”

“What if Mightillustrator confessed his love for Ladybug, like we’ve been building up, and she rejects him because of course she likes Chat Noir? Mightillustrator gets akumatized, and then, uh, he ends up recovering by becoming a couple with Reverser instead? Unless you think that’s stupid. You know what, it totally is. Let’s just think of something else.”

As a response, Nathaniel placed a hand on Marc’s again, grinning slightly. “I love that idea. It feels very realistic, and definitely believable.” 

“Oh?” Marc’s face flushed red. “Thanks.”

“Let’s get a rough draft of it done, then we can look it over. Deal?”

Marc laughed again, leaning back against the wall. He was here, he didn’t reject Nathaniel’s feelings, and he even reciprocated them. All new experiences that Nathaniel was more than willing to accept. This was it, this was what he’d been waiting for since the first time he’d had a crush. 

“Deal.” Marc nodded, expression becoming joyful and innocent once more. “Let’s do this.”

And Nathaniel was sure Marc wasn’t just talking about the comic book.


End file.
